MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Jason Zweig: Huh? It Costs How Much to Trade a Bond? Most investors own bonds through mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. But the household sector, including individual investors, still holds nearly $430 billion in corporate bonds, according to the Federal Reserve. If you buy bonds directly, it’s vital to keep trading… Continue reading The Cost Of Trading Bonds
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – China’s central bank cuts rates for 6th time since Nov China’s central bank cut interest rates for the sixth time since November on Friday in another attempt to jumpstart a slowing economy. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website that it was lowering the… Continue reading The Markets Are Junkies, Central Banks Are Pushers, The Drug Is Cheap Money – Chinese Edition
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Draghi Signals ECB May Add Stimulus This Year on Weak Growth ECB president speaks in Malta after monetary-policy meeting Governing Council discussed options including deposit-rate cut Mario Draghi said the European Central Bank will investigate fresh stimulus measures to boost the economy and that options include a… Continue reading The Markets Are Junkies, Central Banks Are Pushers, The Drug Is Cheap Money – European Edition
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – US investors plough into high-yield junk bonds Investors are racing into higher-yielding junk bond funds at the fastest pace in four years, following a broad rally in equity and fixed income markets as concern that the US Federal Reserve will tighten policy this year is… Continue reading Risk-On, Junk Bond Edition
The Financial Times – Henny Sender: Wall Street takes a more cynical view of Fed stimulus The US Federal Reserve is losing credibility with the biggest beneficiaries of its own stimulus policy — financial players with access to cheap credit. Part of a brokerage report assessing the threats to financial markets noted last week that… Continue reading The Markets Are Junkies, Central Banks Are Pushers, The Drug Is Cheap Money – “We Don’t Get It” Edition
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – The Great Negative Rates Experiment The Swedes, Danes, and Swiss venture to the subzero zone. When the Federal Open Market Committee decided in September to leave its main policy rate where it’s been for seven years—close to zero—it included an extraordinary detail. According to the “dot… Continue reading Negative Rates
<Click on graphic for larger image> Market Watch – Mark Hulbert: The best six months for stocks is about to begin Odds are that the Halloween Indicator will be especially good for the stock market this year. That’s encouraging news, since the Halloween Indicator already carries decent odds of success. But when the stock market… Continue reading A Bullish Seasonal Argument For Stocks
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – Economic data: Funny numbers America’s GDP statistics are becoming less reliable IN THE coming week government statisticians in America and Britain will release their initial estimates of economic growth for the third quarter of the year. Markets will leap or sag, depending on the news. But… Continue reading How Bad Is GDP?
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – Buttonwood: Out of fashion Investors have become pessimistic about emerging markets LIKE hemlines and hairstyles, emerging markets swing in and out of fashion. A burst of enthusiasm in the late 1980s was followed by the financial crises of the late 1990s. In the first decade of… Continue reading Emerging Market Hate
CNBC – Puerto Rico is edging closer to bankruptcy Puerto Rico could be completely illiquid by November, pushing it closer to defaulting on major debt payments, the territory’s top officials said Thursday. Without support from the U.S. federal government, “Puerto Rico may have to choose between paying its creditors and providing essential services to the… Continue reading Struggling Munis
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – Debt in China: Deleveraging delayed Credit growth is still outstripping economic growth IN MOST respects, double-digit growth is a relic of the past for China. In the third quarter the economy grew by just 6.9% year-on-year according to official data, and probably by a percentage point… Continue reading More On China